1762 Janvier Map of Scandinavia - Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland

Description: This is a beautiful example of Jean Janvier's 1762 decorative map of Scandinavia. It covers from Iceland and England eastward as far as Moscow, north to the Arctic Sea, and south as far as Denmark and Germany and includes the modern day nations of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Towns, cities, rivers, mountains, and some undersea features are identified.

Of particular interest is the legendary Lofoten Maelstrom (Mael-Stroom) in northwestern Norway. This legendary whirlpool was the inspiration for Edgar Allen Poe's classic tale 'Descent into the Maelstrom'. In reality, it is a periodic and powerful current caused by tidal variations in the region.

A large decorative title cartouche appears in the upper left quadrant of the map. This map was drawn by J. Janvier and included as plate no. 21 in the first edition of Jean Lattre's 1762 issue of the Atlas Moderne.

Cartographer:
Jean or Robert Janvier (fl. 1746 - 1776) was a Paris based cartographer active in the mid to late 18th century. Janvier true first name is a matter of debate, as it appears as it often appears as either Jean or Robert. More commonly, Janvier simply signed his maps Signor Janvier. By the late 18th century Janvier seems to have been awarded the title of "Geographe Avec Privilege du Roi" and this designations appears on many of his latter maps. Janvier worked with many of the most prominent French, English and Italian map publishers of his day, including Faden, Lattre, Bonne, Santini, Zannoni, Delamarche, and Desnos. Click here for a list of rare maps by Janvier.

Cartographer: Jean Lattre (fl. 1743 - 1793) was a Paris based bookseller, engraver, and map publisher active in the mid to late 18th century. Lattre published a large corpus of maps, globes, and atlases in conjunction with a number of other important French cartographic figures, including Janvier, Zannoni, Bonne and Delamarche. He is also known to have worked with other European cartographers such as William Faden of London and the Italian cartographer Santini. Map piracy and copyright violations were common in 18th century France. Paris court records indicate that Lattre brought charges against several other period map publishers, including fellow Frenchman Desnos and the Italian map engraver Zannoni, both of whom he accused of copying his work. Lattre's offices and bookshop were located at 20 rue St. Jaques, Paris, France. Click here for a list of rare maps by Jean Lattre.